Making leather substitutes



Patented a. 17, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT? OFFICE No Drawing. Application February 25, 1932, Serial No. 595,232, and in France March 9,

'4 Claims. (01. 91-68) The object of the present invention is a process for the manufacture of a substance capable .of taking the place of leather, or of substances similar to leather in the greater number of the applications of the said substances, said process consisting in the treatment of a basic substance, the nature of which will be defined hereinunder, by damping or dipping in one or several baths suitably composed and subsequent pressing and drying.

The basic element of the substance manufactured conformably to the invention may be made of vegetable or animal fiber of any nature whatsoever such, for instance, as cotton or jute, but absorbent substances such as those known under the designation of wood-wool or cellulosewool may also be used. t

In order to permit of the perfect absorption of the liquid elements which constitute the dipping or damping baths by the vegetable or animal fibers, said fibers are to be previously freed from grease by any known or new means in order to render them perfectly absorbent; they are then carded and made up into sheets the thickness of which may vary according to the thickness it is desired to obtain for the finished product but which should always be regular in any one sheet.

In order to give the substance special qualities' of homogeneity and resistance to friction, when such qualities are deemed necessary, prior to any liquid treatment of the sheets freed from greasy matter and carded, a powder will be incorporated, the total weight of which will be about one third of the weight of the sheets to be treated, said powder being constituted approximately as follows: i

V Grams Slaked lime 500 Sandston 200 Resin 100 Pumice-st 200 Emery 100 portions these bodies assume in the powder incorporated,

The powdered filling material is incorporated into the fibrous material by dusting or powdering the same' thereon and this operation follows 0 that of carding. A hopper for instance, filled with filling material, is usually disposed back of the machine and the filling material is applied to the treated fibrous material in regulable quantities.

The sheets of basic substance, previously freed from greasy matter and into which the powder aforementioned will have been incorporated or not, will be cut up into sheets of definite dimensions, said dimensions being selected so as to correspond with the size of the sheet of finished product it is desired to obtain.

The sheets, when cut up, are placed upon supports which make it possible to handle them and said supports may be constituted-by per- 15 forated sheet metal plates or by wire gauze, the perforations in the support being provided in order to permit of a first draining-oil? of the liquid from the impregnating bath.

When the sheets of basic substance have not o had the aforementioned powder incorporated into them they are then placed on theirsupports and dipped into a liquid bath containing" latex, ammonia, aniline and resin as well as a certain quantity of water'and a small quantity of carbolic acid. The proportions of these various elements constituting the bath may vary within certain limits and may, for instance, be as follows:

Latex 1. 000 cubic centimeters Ammonia; 20 cubic centimeters Aniline 10 grams Resin 1 gram Pure water 80 cubic centimeters Carbolic acid l I 0. 5 grams Cubic centimeters mteiL. 1- Ammonia 25 Pure water 200 Carbolic water with a content of five thousandths 35 The proportions of the different bodies em 1 enter into the composition of the bath are naturally given only as examples and they may be modified within certain limits.

After having been immersed in the bath the sheets of fiber and their supports are removed from the bath and the substance obtained is pressed lightly, preferably with a very smooth cylinder, in order to extract the excess liquid therefrom and said liquid may then be recovered and employed for the treatment of another sheet of fiber. In certain cases and more particularly when'the product is intended to replace a leather for fancy leather goods, the sheets freed from the excess liquid from the first bath may be dipped into, or damped by, a second bath made of ten parts of water and one part of acetic acid.

The acetic acid which forms part of the bath may be replaced by any other coagulating reagent which may be suitable. After this second treatment the substance is compressed, either by a flat press or between cylinders; it gives up the excess of the acid bath which it might have retained and is given the desired thickness by this compression; advantage can also be taken of this pressing by cylinders to give the substance the particular grain that may have been selected, said grain being produced on the surfaces of the product by incorporating into-said surfaces passing between the cylinders or pressed the engravings made on the cylinders or on the plate of the press.

Finally the plates of substance thus obtained will be laid out to dry for several hours either in the air or in a drying oven at a temperature of about Fahr.

By these consecutive treatments plates of a substance capable of replacing leather in most of the cases where it is used are obtained.

Conformably with the invention it will be possible, prior to commencing any sort of treatment, to place the sheets constituted by the basic substance on a material preferably manufactured from fiber of the same nature as that which constitutes said basic substance and which will undergo the various operations hereinabove de scribed together with it, said material thus binding with the unwoven substance and forming a whole with it thus making easier to handle and giving it greater resistance.

The plates of substance may subsequently be decorated in any desired manner or varnished or tinted either throughout the mass or superficially.

Finally the product may be used also for the repairing of all articles made of leather such as the soles of shoes, the preparation of the product being made, in such cases, directly on the surface it is proposed to cover, a piece of the basic substance of suitable size being laid on the place it is desir d to repair and undergoing, in succession, the action of the baths the composition of which has been defined hereinabove,- the finished product binding very closely with the repaired leather.

What I claim is:

1. A process for the manufacture of a substance capable of replacing leather and similar materials comprising freeing fibrous material from all greasy matter in order to ensure maximum absorbing qualities, then carding the material, then incorporating with said material a powdered mixture of slaked lime, sand stone, resin, pumice stone and emery and then subjecting said material to a liquid bath comprising latex, ammonia, pure water and a weak solution of carbolic acid.

2. A process for the manufacture of a substance capable of replacing leather and similar materials comprising freeing fibrous material from all greasy matter, carding said material,

compressing said material to predetermined thicknesses, then incorporating with said material a powdered mixture comprising slaked lime, sand stone, resin, pumice stone and emery and then dipping said material in a bath comprising latex, ammonia and carbolic acid.

3. A process for the manufacture of a substance capable of replacing leather and similar materials comprising freeing fibrous material from all greasy matter in order to ensure maximum absorbing qualities, then carding the same, then compressing the fibrous material so as to grain the surface thereof, then incorporating with said material a powdered mixture composed of slaked lime, sand stone, pumice stone and emery and then subjecting said sheets to a treatment in a bath comprising latex, ammonia and carbolic acid.

4. A process for the manufacture of a substance capable of replacing leather and similar materials comprising freeing fibrous material from all greasy matter in order to ensure maximum absorbing qualities, then carding the same, then compressing the fibrous material so as to grain the surface thereof, then incorporating with said material a powdered mixture composed of slaked lime, sand stone, pumice stone and emery, then subjecting said sheets to a treatment in a bath comprising latex, ammonia and carbolic acid and then drying the sheets.

LEONARD BOUDY. 

